I'll play along. I'm 42 years old, 5'5", 123 lbs. I'm guessing I'm in the low 20's bodyfat? I'd love to hit 17%. And just to be honest upfront, I'm a chronic cardio girl. I know, I know... but I love my long runs. Training for a few ultra's this year. (I can hear the boo's and hisses).

I am working on more strength training, doing Crossfit a couple days a week. This month marked the first time in my life, ever, I was able to do an unassisted pull-up. Just one, but you would have thought I'd won the lottery from my reaction.

I'm also, just fyi, a recovering vegetarian. Being experimenting with Primal and am pleasantly surprised at how well everything is working. My stomach knots now on "cheat" days when I have wheat.

I'd love some guidelines on how to lean out even more, staying healthy and not starving. I feel like I've got maybe 5 lbs to lose and they don't want to budge.

I'll see if I can get my hands on some calipers at my gym and get a "real" reading.

I'm game with the 15-20%, they look fit and athletic. I wonder if there are some calipers at my gym...
I would probably have to lose about 10lbs to get into that range. So here's what I did today:
1 hour of ballet (it's really great for toning legs, abs and butt)
Weight lifting:
10 push-ups (I know, I'm working on it...)
1 pull-up (I know! It feels like winning the lottery!)
5x5 deadlifts at 40lbs
35 squats (no weights)
It is a start!

This morning I ate two eggs scrambled in a little coconut oil and a hand full of spinach and some crumbled bacon.
Skipped lunch, tonight I will be eating venison steaks with green beans and more spinach.

It's a 3-day per week program and I didn't start seeing results till I started this program a year ago. It's simple, teaches you how to lift safely, and will give you a consistent habit for the rest of your life.

Welcome to the new members of our little club. I will soon summarize who's here and what each persons goals are. Just remember, health first!

As for me, I think I'm still making progress. Some may think its gross but I'm at the point of being able to see my progress in reducing bodyfat by increased vascularity. For instance, I'm becoming vascular on my abs (low abdomen and upper abdomen and obliques. Kinda interesting and I never thought I'd be able to get that lean! My last area of resistance is my lower abs, surprise, surprise.

I've also decided to up my food intake a bit. 1800 calories is pretty low given my size and activity level and I have the first signs of a slowing metabolism. Not good! I'm gonna go up to 2100-2200 for 10 days or so and seehow that goes.

I'm also becoming a big fan of carb refeeds after intense exercise. As Mark has noted, carbs are the best at illicit ing a leptin response. When I do a carb refeed (like 100g from sweet potatoes) it seems to really kill my appetite for a good 24-48 hours and knock down other symptoms of slowing metabolism.

Well I had a good day today, skipped breakfast. Had a salad for lunch with romain, onions, mushrooms ground beef, avacodo and homemade ceasar dressing. Supper I had another salad, pretty much the same with some chunked up chicken fingers. Snack I'm going to have some plain greek yogurt with frozen strawberries.